IndustriesBuildings

From the plot to the working drawings.

Walls, slabs, roofs, stairs, windows and doors are building parts with layered build-ups. Floor plans, sections, elevations, areas and schedules come from the same model and follow it when it changes.

For architecture and planning offices, developers and trades who draw their own plans, above all when working on existing buildings.

1Site planM 1:500A3

Sheets from the example projects, plotted with Linework. A click opens the whole sheet.

The model

  • Building parts with layers

    Straight and curved walls with mitres and T-joints, slabs with openings, roofs over any outline with dormers and roof windows, straight, winding and spiral stairs, columns, beams and curtain walls.

    wallslabroofstairwindowdoor
  • Materials with properties

    Thermal conductivity and density per material. From these Linework works out the U-value (the method of EN ISO 6946) and the weight per area of every type.

    materialwalltype
  • A model from the 2D plan

    A drawn floor plan (DWG, DXF or vector PDF) becomes walls, openings, rooms and storeys, each with a preview. Duck proposes and asks.

    planwallsplanopeningsplanroomsplanstack
  • Terrain and surroundings

    Terrain from points, planned terrain with cut and fill, the excavation pit, neighbouring buildings from OpenStreetMap, sun and shadows.

    terraingradepitsurroundings
  • Timber framing

    Rafters, purlins, studs and joists from the timber layer of the type, with a timber list and export as BTLx 2.3.

    framing
3Ground floor planM 1:100A3
A-02Working drawing, ground floorM 1:50A2

Drawings from the model

  • Plans, sections, elevations

    As viewports on sheets that are drawn afresh from the model every time. Sections label clear heights, stairs, wall height and roof pitch themselves.

    levelplanssectionelevation
  • Dimension chains and levels

    Chains outside and through the house, opening sizes with sill height, levels for finished and structural floor, dimensions with raised millimetres.

    dimwallsdimthroughspotheight
  • Permit drawings

    Site plan with setback areas (worked out the way the German model building code does, values adjustable), plot ratio and floor area ratio, north arrow, materials in the elevations. All sheets into one PDF, PDF/A on request.

    setbacksmassingnortharrowplot
  • Working drawings

    Working drawings at 1:50 and details at 1:20 from the same model: structural dimensions, layers hatched by material, build-ups on leaders, window and door schedule by position.

    dimwallspositionsschedule
D-01Eaves detail, southM 1:20A3
01Ground floor: existing, demolition, conversion, newM 1:100A2

Conversions and existing buildings

  • Existing, demolished, new

    Every part carries its phase. The existing, demolition, conversion and new-build plans come from one model, demolition in yellow and new in red, as German permit drawings ask for. Rooms and areas exist before and after the conversion.

    renovationroom
  • Demolition quantities

    Per material in cubic metres, tonnes and skips, including what new openings take out of walls that stay.

    demolition
  • Survey and photos

    A room from a hand survey (sides and diagonals), plans and scans as an underlay at scale, photo points with viewing direction and a photo list.

    roomsurveypdfimportphotopoint
  • Pre-check the envelope

    Renewed envelope parts against the legal maximum values, by component group, as a pre-check for the energy consultant.

    envelopecheck
04Section A-A (conversion)M 1:100A3

Areas, quantities, costs

  • Areas and room book

    Areas in the breakdown of DIN 277, living area under sloping roofs, a room book with finishes, net wall areas and skirting lengths.

    scheduleroombook
  • Costs and tendering

    Quantities per cost group of DIN 276 with your own rates as a cost estimate. Quantities per item number as GAEB X31 for the tendering program.

    costsgaebx31

Formats

In

DWGDXFPDFIFC 2x3 / 4 / 4.3STEPBCF

Out

DWGDXFPDF, PDF/AIFC 4BCFglTFBTLxGAEB X31CSV

All formats and what they carry

What is still missing

  • Linework does no structural analysis, no energy certificate and no permit forms. It supplies the drawings, quantities and IFC for them.
  • Point clouds (E57, LAS) are missing. Existing buildings come from vector plans or hand surveys, not automatically from scans.
  • From IFC, straight walls and slabs come back editable; roofs and stairs come in as solids.
  • Setbacks and the envelope check are pre-checks with adjustable values, not verified state law.

In the examples

Download Linework and open one of your drawings.

The app is free, for professional work too, without an account or a licence key.

Product
FrameMind Linework
Version
0.19.2
Date
13 November 2026
Platform
macOS, Apple silicon
Windows
in preparation
Price
free

The wheel zooms, dragging pans, a double click shows everything.